IMC 2015: Sessions

Paper -a will focus on the image of the City of Rome as it is transmitted in the early medieval manuscripts of Regionary Catalogues . It will examine their uses and ascertain the value placed on Roman history and traditions during a period that saw the dominance of Christianity over the Empire, with a particular focus on the problem of the absence of Christian buildings in the document. Paper -b asks: 'Ubi ecclesia'? In the 3rd century the answer would have been: where the bishop was! This paper will look at how the ideological, metaphysical concept of 'Church' develops into a concrete, physical presence in the city of Rome in the 5th and 6th centuries - in its people and buildings. The agendas and interventions of the Roman aristocracy, and the bishops of Rome, sometimes combined, sometimes separate, had a decisive impact on the Christianisation of both the topography and the population of the Eternal City. Paper -c will consider the strong awareness of Roman elites of their Roman past as seen in the city around them. The discussion will be focused on topography, language, and the rising understanding of the individual moments in the Roman past in the 10th century that were variously claimed by different social groups: aristocracies, the papacy, and outsiders to the city.